Drinking water quality: stakes of control and sanitation in the town of Dschang - Cameroon

The present study aims to present a complete diagnosis of the state of water supply and sanitation in the Dschang city. After an inventory of the actor practices starting from existing documentations of the Dschangurban council, 87,000 inhabitants, we identified consumers through physical field identification of the water supplies and sanitation in November 2007. All wells were mapped, 300 households surveyed and water quality analysed. It appears that water is basically supplied through connection on the conventional “CAMWATER” network. Over 52.2% of households not connected to network used 728 alternative points for water assessment (705 wells and 23 springs), and drawn drinking water especially from springs. Bacteriological quality varies greatly from one water point to another. Water coming from depth soils and managed water points are relatively more improved in quality. For the 250 sanitation installations surveyed, 70% of households use pit latrines with open bottom; 116 latrines are located in a radius of 15 m around the wells and springs. For the wastewater drainage and treatment, no device is constructed. The difficulties of supplying safe drinking water and the precarious conditions of sanitation seemed to be the origin of many water borne-diseases in this city.Keywords: Water supply points, Individual toilet sanitation, Conventional network, Alternative suppliers, Water borne-diseases.